Wonder Boys to begin GAC tourneyArkansas Tech University will begin its eight consecutive postseason appearance in men’s basketball by taking on Southeastern Oklahoma State University in the first round of the 2015 Great American Conference Tournament in Bartlesville, Okla., on Friday, March 6. The Wonder Boys have advanced to postseason play every year since 2008. The string of eight straight postseason berths comes on the heels of a seven-year span (2001-07) in which the A...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

State tournaments delayed againThe 2014-15 State Basketball Tournament has been pushed back another day thanks to another dose of inclement weather that struck the area on Wednesday. The tournament was originally scheduled to begin Wednesday, but was moved to Thursday and then again to today after the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) determined roads between participating schools were unsafe for travel. The postponement will push the semifinal round in each classificat...

Adams named GAC Newcomer of the YearBARTLESVILLE, Okla. — Fatima Adams earned a selection as the Great American Conference Newcomer of the Year, while a combined five Arkansas Tech men’s and women’s basketball players were named to all-GAC teams, the league announced at its annual pre-championship banquet. Adams earned her individual honor in addition to being named to the all-GAC First Team. She led the Golden Suns to a share of a conference title after reaching double figures ...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Throwback Thursday: Don DempseyTHE COURIER / Submitted Tuesday marked the 85th birthday of former Arkansas Tech University athletic director and head football coach Don Dempsey. Dempsey played high school football in Booneville, where he scored 169 points as a senior in 1947 (25 TDs and 19 extra-points). He was an All-American linebacker on Tech’s AIC championship team of 1954 under Sam Hindsman. Dempsey also coached at Mountain Home from 1955-58 where he still holds the sc...

ATU softball drops pair of heartbreakersArkansas Tech pitchers held Fort Hays State to just five hits on the day, but the Golden Suns were similarly stymied by stellar pitching from Fort Hays State as the No. 13 Golden Suns (8-2) dropped a pair of extra-inning 1-0 decisions to Fort Hays State (5-6) on Tuesday in Wichita, Kan. In the opener, starter Jalissa Gum tossed four no-hit innings before giving way to reliever Sydnee Clark. Clark proceeded to strike out the side in the fifth, ...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Jones feels confident in Lady Apaches softballPOTTSVILLE — Lady Apaches head coach Greg Jones said he feels pretty good about this years softball team. “This is probably the most athletic team I’ve ever coached,” he said. “We’ve got some young talent. We’re going to get some young girls in there and we’re excited about it.” The Lady Apaches graduated four starters last season, but Jones said he has experience returning to the field this season. Jones listed senior Teddy Bailey, Rachel Wri...

Yates' 53 leads Gators over EaglesDANVILLE — The Two Rivers Gators took third in the Class 3A Region 1 tournament with a 94-86 double-overtime victory over the Paris Eagles on Monday. The Gators were led by Morgan Yates’ astonishing 53 points, with Garot Brimm scoring 12 and Logan Jones scoring 11. At the end of the first quarter the Gators trailed 22-10. Two Rivers fell behind 38-25 at halftime and slipped behind by as many as 21 points in the third quarter. The Gators soon b...

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Courier Sports StaffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Hector falls to QuitmanCOAL HILL — The Hector Lady Wildcats suffered a 58-50 loss to the Quitman Lady Bulldogs in the semifinals of the Class 2A West Region Tournament inside Rebel Gymnasium on Monday. Hector led 10-7 after the first quarter, but fell behind 27-21 at halftime. After the third quarter the Bulldogs pulled ahead 39-28. The Lady Wildcats were led in scoring by Laken Stanek with 20, Alyssa Millsaps with 17, Darci Fountain with six, Avery Williams with fi...

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Courier Sports StaffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Warriors take second at region tourneyDANVILLE — The Lamar Warriors defeated the Two Rivers Gators 56-50 in the semifinals of the Class 3A Region 1 Tournament on Sunday. Leading scorers for Lamar were Daniel McCarley with 21 and Zack Brown with 13. Morgan Yates scored 21 points for the Gators, while Garot Brimm scored 16 and Colby Whitlow scored 11. Lamar was defeated by Charleston 56-53 in the championship on Monday. Paris SG 51, Lamar 33 DANVILLE — The Lamar Lady Warriors were d...

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Courier Sports StaffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

RHS basketball heads to stateThe Russellville Cyclones and Lady Cyclones will head to the Class 6A state tournament today, assuming another round of winter weather doesn’t further disrupt Russellville's basketball seasons. There is icy weather in the forecast, but at press time the Cyclones will play Benton at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, while the Lady Cyclones will take on El Dorado at 7 p.m. in Siloam Springs. Both teams were forced to cancel their final two regular-season ...

Sand Lizards fall to Subiaco in regional championshipPOTTSVILLE — The Dardanelle Sand Lizards succumbed to an intense Subiaco Academy Trojans defense Monday as the Trojans defeated the Sand Lizards 66-53 in the championship game of the 4A North Regional Tournament at George Jones Gymnasium. Dardanelle tied the game at 24-24 early in the third quarter before Subiaco used a 19-5 run to take control. Though the Sand Lizards trimmed the lead to seven late in the third quarter, Subiaco went on a 20-9...

Wonder Boys tie for fourth at Las Vegas Desert ClassicLAS VEGAS, Nev. — Alex Mahlik carded a final-round 73 (+1) to finish in a tie for second place as the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys golf team tied for fourth on Monday at the Las Vegas Desert Classic. The Wonder Boys combined to shoot a final-round 302 to finish with a two-round score of 596, finishing tied with Missouri-St. Louis. The two were one stroke behind third-place West Florida, four strokes behind Oklahoma Christian in second place, and ...

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Cyclones to open season TuesdayThe Russellville Cyclones baseball team will enter the 2015 season with a target on its back. It is, after all, the defending Class 6A state champion. It returned two of its top pitchers and boasts a particularly deep roster. “Winning state again should be any team’s ultimate goal,” Russellville head coach Matt Long said. “I mean, yes, I think it is possible with this group and that all starts with pitching.” Russellville defeated the Marion P...

Lady Cyclones look for another state runThe Russellville Lady Cyclones softball team learned last season it takes more than a Division I athlete at pitcher to win the Class 6A state title. Russellville’s senior pitcher Andrea Kindrick was 21-3 from the circle, struck out 296 batters across 142 innings and threw seven no-hitters for a 0.30 ERA last season, yet the Lady Cyclones were defeated by the Benton Panthers in the semifinals of the Class 6A state tournament. “It was a wake-up ...

Pirates win season openerDOVER — Pirates head coach Jason McGhee gave the game ball to senior Caleb Dale after Tuesday’s 7-1 victory over the Booneville Bearcats at J.P. Lovelady Park. In his first ever varsity start, Dale only gave up two hits. Until the fifth inning he had a no-hitter. “The key to him being successful was just getting that first out,” McGhee said. “Once he did that he was able to string it together.” The Pirates played Monday’s season opener as temp...

Golden Suns win 24th conference titleMONTICELLO — It’s time to make room in the rafters of Tucker Coliseum for yet another championship banner. Arkansas Tech University clinched at least a share of the 24th regular-season conference title in the 38-year history of its intercollegiate women’s basketball program with a 77-60 Great American Conference road victory over the University of Arkansas-Monticello Cotton Blossoms on Saturday. “It feels awesome,” ATU head coach Dave Wilbers ...

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Local basketball games delayed — againAnother round of winter weather moved through the area on Friday and further disrupted the Russellville Cyclones and Lady Cyclones basketball season. Russellville was scheduled to host Mount Saint Mary and Little Rock Catholic on Saturday for their final regular season games of the year, but the games were canceled due to weather and will not be rescheduled. Both teams will accept a forfeit on their record as they move into the Class 6A state ...

Dardanelle shocks Arkansas Baptist to advance to regional championshipPOTTSVILLE – Sometimes, the third time isn’t the charm. For the Dardanelle Sand Lizards, it was the fourth. After falling to the Arkansas Baptist Eagles twice in the regular season and once in the 4A-4 District Tournament, the Sand Lizards finally got the best of the Eagles in a thrilling 49-46 victory Friday night in the semifinals of the 4A North Regional Tournament at a packed George Jones Gymnasium. After using a 10-0 third quarter run to ...

School officials: Coach fired for violating spending rulesNORTH LITTLE ROC (AP) — A football coach has publicly released a termination letter from the North Little Rock School District stating that he failed to follow district rules on how to handle nearly $140,000 in purchases. The letter to coach Brad Bolding admonishes him for the purchase of supplies and equipment made between late August 2013 and January 2014. Officials also reportedly stated Bolding misspent two state grants totaling about $9,0...